OCCULT CONCEPT

It's never too far away from October to celebrate Halloween--even during the Valentine's season. This is obviously the mentality of Crypt TVs latest short horror offering: Jack O' Lantern.

In this video, a group of teen/college aged kids (who all look much too old to be in either high school or college) are running around the city on Halloween night destroying pumpkins and jack o' lanterns with an ax. The ring leader, a jock in a letter jacket, keeps on pushing the others to join in. One of the girls is reluctant to do any smashing to the point of refusing to hang out with the group any longer. However, as is the case in many horror films, the idiot of a jock gets a satisfying punishment as the video comes to an end.

Jack O' Lantern is dripping with Halloween atmosphere, right down to an almost 80s synth soundtrack. The characters never talk the entire film, thus lending more to the imagery and sound effects. On the other hand, the mute characters come off a little odd at times, just grunting and laughing like neanderthals. This was obviously a directorial choice, which works in some respects and not in others.

Additionally, the age of the characters is a little odd, seeing as they all look like adults in their late twenties or earlier thirties. It seems strange for grown people to be acting in such an immature manner on Halloween night. However, once you get over the fact that the actors are meant to portray teens/college students, it's easier to forgive.

In the end, I enjoyed the final moments of the video, but would have preferred a little blood splatter or squishier sound effects. As it is, I think it works well, but could have been better.

It's a good little film with just the right touch of Halloween "cheer." If your looking for a spooky fix, this could scratch the itch. Just don't expect too much, either.

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Occult Concept is a horror blog and podcast focusing on cult cinema from the 70s and 80s as well as fiction in a similar vein. We are also a publisher of indie horror fiction in the genres of occult, paranormal, and sci-fi.

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